


First in the Lake

by lar_laughs



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-15
Updated: 2004-06-15
Packaged: 2017-10-11 02:51:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lar_laughs/pseuds/lar_laughs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is Megan's last year of Wee Wizards camp and it could be going better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First in the Lake

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 2004 for the Wee Wizards challenge. The idea was inspired by some late night conversations with some girls that I was in an RPG with. We wondered what our characters would have been like as children which inspired the idea of a group, like the Boy Scouts, for small wizard children.

"Gather in. Gather in. It's time to go over the rules of the camp out tonight before we get on the bus. Do you all have your permission slips?"

Megan pulled out the yellow slip of paper and held it up to Director Simmons. She truly despised his round face and jovial laugh. It was like talking to Father Christmas. Plus, he spit when he got to talking fast and he talked fast all the time.

As he thanked her, spitting in her face with the force of a water hose, she backed away from him and into a solid presence. As soon as she realized where her head was in relation to the chest behind her, she turned beet red.

"Hi, Cedric." Her voice was a little breathy and she tried to remember what Susan had told her about not flipping her hair when she got nervous. It would've been hard to do now because he put his hands on her shoulder to offer her some support as she began to lean to the side.

"You okay, Jones?"

He…knows…my…name!

"Sorry to bump into you like that. I was just trying to get away from the water attack." She giggled and tried to remember to breath. "Are you coming on the camping trip?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I've been on every camping trip since I started Wee Wizards when I was seven years old."

Before she could say anything else, the director decided to mess with her well thought out plan of attack and start giving out seating arrangements. There were a few combinations that got giggles and others that brought a few well-placed groans.

Susan or Cedric. Susan or Cedric. After Susan was paired with Ernie and Cedric was delegated to take care of Owen, the smallest boy there, she began a new chant. Anyone but Pansy or Luci. Anyone but Pansy or Luci.

"Megan Jones and Lucetta Moon." She groaned louder than she intended. Everyone turned to look at her until she quickly turned it into a rough cough. It was obvious from the glares that the other girl was sending her after the dramatic display that this wasn't going to be a pleasant trip.

Maybe I can sit near Cedric and he'll…who is that girl?

A new arrival joined the group, her bags still over her shoulder and her face flushed. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Director Simmons. My mother couldn't find her wand. She thought she had left it lying on the kitchen counter but it wasn't there when she went to look for it."

Megan didn't hear anymore that the girl said as she watched Cedric walk over and take the girl's bags. He smiled at this female the same way she wanted him to smile at her. No one else seemed to notice them in the rush to get good seats.

"Ready to get on the bus?" A tall girl glared in front of her. "You're holding the line up by staring at the Hufflepuff!"

"Sure, Luci." The name slips out and she wants to bring it back immediately but decided that maybe she didn't at the taunt about Cedric. "He's a Hufflepuff but he's cooler than any of the other boys at that school. You should know that since you liked him last year as much as the next girl. Of course, that was before you changed your name and forgot how to smile."

They both blinked their eyes at each other, both a little surprised at the words that came out of her mouth. Just as they were both going to respond, one with apologies and the other with hatred, the Director came behind and began to usher them onto the bus with a spray that rivaled the waterfall at the camping spot they had been at last year.

"Don't apologize. Her kind don't understand nice words. She'll eat you alive if you try to say anything."

She looked around her shoulder at the shaggy haired boy who had been Cedric's shadow this morning. The two had lounged against the bus while another boy finished loading all the luggage. Even if she didn't know his name, she knew he must be important to know her idol.

"Her kind?"

"Oh, she's a classic Slytherin. You can see it in their eyes. I'll bet you a galleon. We'll see who wins in a month." He lifted his eyebrow in a smirk and she scowled in the quiet sort of way she was learning put most people in their place.

"And what are you?"

"Hufflepuff, of course. Thought you would have figured that out."

Of course! He was in the same house as Cedric. That would explain the friendship. "Why would I have figured that out? I don't even know who you are."

"I'm wounded, Megan. I've seen you every summer and you don't remember me?" She almost didn't believe his words but then saw the look in his eye. The look that told her that he really was hurt even when it sounded like he was joking.

She was saved once again by the waterfall of water that pushed her onto the bus and into her seat.

After the unbearable silence of the girl beside her mixed with the deafening noise from the crowd around her, the camping site was paradise. Wobbly tents and misshapen cabins were quickly divided and she found herself in a nicely appointed cabin with Susan and six other girls that she vaguely knew.

"Did you find out who that girl is that hung on Cedric?" she quizzed Susan but it was useless. The other girls were giggling about a raid they were already planning on the boys' tents after the campfire tonight.

Instead, she took her book and found a nice rock to sit on for a while in the sunshine. It was close enough to camp that she could still hear the hubbub but far enough that people would actually have to search for her if they wanted her.

"You shouldn't be so far out into the woods. What if a bork came out and decided to eat you?"

She came close to falling off her rock as she saw the two boys coming down the trial with a load of firewood. Cedric's pile was much bigger than the other boy's pile. "A bork? I've never heard of such a thing."

If she understood the whole premise behind a giggle, she would have tried one now but the sound didn't come naturally to her lips. Instead, she gave them the only face she knew. The one that told them she thought they were being immature and could they please try harder to grow up.

"Really? Borks are horrible creatures," the other boy told her, coming closer until he was right in front of her. "They eat small children who read books on rocks in the middle of forests."

"I'm not a small child so I'm safe." She watched Cedric move behind the rock and delighted at his outrageous smile. He wasn't looking at her and suddenly she realized that smile wasn't very nice looking after all. It looked a bit mischievous.

"Does she look like a small child to you, Zach?" Zach! Of course! Zach Smith. She did know who he was because he'd been on this same camping trip with her for the last three summers. He was two years older than her and one year younger than Cedric…and he was now looking at her with that evil smile.

"She does, indeed. I think we should test out her theory first. Give her the benefit of the doubt. Ready?"

In unison, the boys dropped the logs and each grabbed one end of her. She gave a muffled shout of surprise and lay still until she realized what exactly was happening. They were taking her to the lake! This had happened to a couple of girls last summer and she and Susan had decided they would be mortified if it ever happened to them. They wouldn't scream and act all helpless. It was decided that they would fight and beat the boys at their own game.

Since Cedric was the closest, she started with him. "Let me down, Cedric! So help me, I'll kick you."

"You can't kick me, Jones. Feel free to kick Zach, though. His grip doesn't look all that tight on your feet. Maybe you could scream a bit. That always seems to help the other girls."

"Naw. She's not a screamer. I told you she wouldn't be."

They were nearing the camp now and it was only a short walk across the grassy area until they were at the lake. Everyone would be able to see her and it was highly doubtful that anyone would help.

"Zacharias Smith! Let me down. I refuse to scream so let's just call this a truce and you can go find some other girl who will scream for everyone's enjoyment."

He smiled when she said his name and tightened his grip on her feet. "Not on your life. Screamers aren't really that fun. You're much more fun."

She knew that bringing out the scowl wouldn't help her but she wasn't able to stop it. Both the boys burst out laughing as her body went rigid. The trip across the campus was short and sweet and she wished she could stay under the water as it covered her completely.

She was the first one in the water this year. As soon as she surfaced, she heard the shouts of boyish laughter and felt the girlish glares. Even Susan was standing on the banks with her arms crossed and a malicious sneer on her face. The other girls, over the past summers, had always gone after the boys who had thrown them in but Megan knew better than to do that. It would make the situation worse.

With a final, sad glance at Cedric and Zach, she walked back to the cabin to change her clothes and dry her hair. The other girls came in later to change for dinner and the campfire but ignored her as she sat in the corner with her book still in her hands. She wasn't concentrating on it much. From here, she found she could see a patch of the center of camp.

It would have been fun to see the comings and goings of the other campers if she hadn't witnessed Cedric reach down, after looking around to see who was watching, and give that girl a kiss. That it was just a sweet kiss on the cheek was lost to her. Instead, she felt her small heart crumple and start to bleed out.

"Her name is Cho," Susan told her later as they found a spot on a log by the blazing fire. "She's a Ravenclaw. I wish I had her hair. Isn't it gorgeous?"

"No. It's not nearly as pretty as yours." Even though Megan was forgiven, she felt that she needed to keep her friend in a better attitude. Susan had always been partial to praise about her physical appearance. Maybe too much, really. Watching her primp a little was nauseating but necessary for the friendship. There were still too many glares and sneers coming from the other girls.

"Yours is actually prettier, if you ask me," came the whisper from behind the other shoulder. She had allowed the enemy to sneak up on her.

Whipping the curly hair out of his reach, she did her best to glare up at him. "I didn't ask you. Would you please leave me alone? You've done quite enough today, thank you very much."

She didn't realize how cold the night air was until she felt him move back onto his seat on the log behind her. Every one of her movements felt choppy as she felt his eyes on the back of her head.

Stupid boy! Go away. Go irritate another girl. I don't want to be irritated.

After a couple of dreadful songs, the counselor's began to hand out the marshmallows and sticks, mostly to the younger campers. The seasoned veterans, such as herself, sat in the dark recesses of the fire pit and held whispered conversations. She still wasn't sure what she was supposed to talk about since she wasn't being included in any of them.

Feeling the urge to keep busy and away from the darkness, she stepped forward to help one of the smaller boys take his gooey confection off the stick without sending both items back into the dirt.

"Would you like another one?" She didn't care if he had more sugar. It would probably serve his counselor right for leaving him alone to fend for himself.

"I don't think that would be wise," the voice whispered from behind her again.

"What do you care?"

"Because he's already jittery and I don't feel like being up all night with a sick camper. I'll let you have a one, though."

She turned to look at him and decided that he really was the most outrageous boy. Instead of saying no, she took the white mass of sugar from his outstretched hand and bent down for the little boy's forgotten stick.

"That one's dirty. Let me find you a better one."

"No thank you. A little dirt now and then won't hurt me." With a small smile and toss of her head, she stuck her marshmallow firmly on the dust-encrusted end.

If she hadn't been in such a snit, she wouldn't have flipped her hair which wouldn't have whipped over the little boy outstretched hand and caught on his gooey fingers. She wouldn't have tried to pull the precious strands free and turned to the right.

And she never would have seen him kissing her like they were the last two people on the earth.

And her crumpled, bleeding heart wouldn't have shattered.

And she would never have whipped back around, with the tears in her eyes, and ran into his chest with such a force that he had to put his arms around her to hold her steady against him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as the tears wet the front of his sweatshirt.

"Don't be. Besides, you were the first in the lake."

Of course, it was probably a good thing that she didn't look up at him in that moment. It might have just scared her back under the water.


End file.
